


our little sea of air

by dizzyondreams



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: F/M, Fluff, cat adoption!, kaz being a big goof
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 13:48:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4668938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzyondreams/pseuds/dizzyondreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaz was sitting with his back to the fire, his huskies an unnaturally chase distance away from him. They were eyeing up something in his lap, and as Jaguar squinted, she managed to make out a small bundle of fur in his lap. She stared. It moved.</p>
<p>“What,” She said, pointing at the tiny ball of bones and black fur in Kaz’s lap, “Is that?”</p>
<p>Kaz managed to look sheepish, even behind the sunglasses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	our little sea of air

Jaguar jiggled her key in the door, trying to get the sticky lock to work, mumbling under her breath as the cold wind crept under her collar. With a click, the door unlocked, and with a small sound of triumph she shoved it the rest of the way open and stepped inside, locking the door firmly behind her. 

She wondered if Kaz was home as she toed off her boots by the door, immediately stepping in a puddle of melted snow as she wrestled her heavy winter coat off. With a grimace, she pulled her now-wet sock off and walked further into the house. She could smell curry cooking, and her nose led her to the kitchen, which was empty apart from a large pot on the stove. With a frown, she cocked her head to the side as she tried to listen for him.

She couldn’t hear anything but the creaking of the old house, the howl of wind outside. Slowly, she crept up the stairs; ears still straining for any indication that Kaz was home. It would be odd if he wasn’t, as he was an almost permanent fixture at the moment, the image of him lounging at the kitchen table, a husky or three curled up at his feet, was a familiar one. 

Jaguar slowly pushed the door to the study open, and stopped in her tracks.

Kaz was sitting with his back to the fire, his huskies an unnaturally chase distance away from him. They were eyeing up something in his lap, and as Jaguar squinted, she managed to make out a small bundle of fur in his lap. She stared. It moved.

“What,” She said, pointing at the tiny ball of bones and black fur in Kaz’s lap, “Is that?”

Kaz managed to look sheepish, even behind the sunglasses.

“It’s a cat.” He said, like it was every day she walked in on him with a cat, like it was stupid of her even to ask. Jaguar narrowed her eyes. The cat squeaked in his lap, completely ignorant of what was going on around it. 

She crossed her arms. Kaz shrunk back in his chair a little. “Where did you get a cat?” She said, then gestured to the true absence of nothing but driving _snow_ that could be seen through the window. “In the middle of nowhere in fucking, Alaska?” 

Kaz dropped his gaze to his lap, and picked up the kitten gently, gingerly. It was utterly surreal to watch, and Jaguar found herself taking a grudging step towards him as she watched. 

“Found her wandering around the alley behind the house.” Kaz said gruffly, cradling the kitten against his chest. It regarded Jaguar with big blue eyes, meowed at her again. The image of this huge, _dangerous_ man holding this little kitten close to him was so deeply odd that Jaguar was having a hard time processing it. “Her name’s Hua Bao.”

That snapped her out of it. “Hua Bao? That little thing,” She pointed to the cat again. “Is called Hua Bao.” At Kaz’s look of pure confusion she waved a hand. “Never mind, it’s just. That’s cute.”

“You wanna pet her?” Kaz asked after a moment of silence, both him and the cat looking up at Jaguar with matching looks on their faces. She grunted.

“No, and you left the curry on the stove to burn.” She added, before leaving the room, a husky on her heels who was clearly as pleased as her to have another pet under their roof.

\------

Day ten of the cat moving in, and Jaguar had almost mastered not tripping over her whenever she so much as put one foot forward. Hua Bao had taken an odd liking to her, and subsequently was constantly underfoot. More than a few times Jaguar had had to come back to the house after leaving because she’d found her curled up asleep in her coat pocket. Kaz thought it was hilarious, Jaguar less so.

Though she found herself becoming inexplicably fond of the thing as time passed. It was much like the way she’d slowly found Kaz more tolerable, back when he was training her. Her feelings towards the cat had gone from wariness to a comfortable kind of confusion all mixed up with fondness. She didn’t _get_ her, but enjoyed the way she’d curl up at night in the dip between her and Kaz in bed, the way she pooped in a pair of Kaz’s boots once.

Hua Bao was tiny, helpless, and followed Jaguar around like a baby duckling. She meowed at her until she fed her, knocked things over and peed on the rug. She was growing on her.

Not that Kaz needed to know that, of course. He’d be far too smug about it for her to stand, and she didn’t fancy having to deal with that for the next few weeks until he got over it. No, as far as Kaz knew Jaguar grudgingly put up with the cat because Kaz had grown so attached to it. 

She watched Hua Bao walk lightly across the lino floor of the kitchen, tail raised high and straight as she looked up at Jaguar and meowed pitifully. Jaguar hummed, setting down the knife she’d been sharpening to scoop up the little thing. Hua Bao bit at Jaguar’s thumb, and she bared her teeth at the cat as she plopped her in her lap. 

“Don’t you bite me.” She warned, scratching Hua Bao lightly behind the ear as the cat kneaded at her legs, tiny claws pricking her through her leggings. “You might be able to get away with that with Kaz, but I’m much harder to convince.” She rubbed her thumb on the underside of Hua Bao’s chin, smiled a little at the answering rumbling purr.

“You look thoroughly convinced to me.”

Kaz had appeared in the doorway to the kitchen at some point, and Jaguar shot him a disinterested look at his words. “I’m not a monster, Kaz. The thing’s cute.” Kaz just smiled, lounging in the doorway in a posed sort of way that told her he’d practiced it in the mirror. To his credit, he pulled it off.

She watched him as he dropped his arms to his side and wandered further into the kitchen, stopping briefly to stir the food on the stove before crossing to sit heavily in front of Jaguar. He leaned forward and scratched Hua Bao’s chin, an indulgent smile lighting up his face as she purred and leaned forward into it. Kaz always did look cuter without those damn glasses, Jaguar thought idly.

“She’s gonna be spoiled as hell if you keep that up.” Jaguar murmured pointedly as Kaz produced a baggie of cat treats from his jacket pocket, much to Hua Bao’s apparent delight.

“I’ll spoil her if I like.” Kaz shot back, their knees bumping companionably as he leaned forward to feed the cat a treat. “Besides,” He said, straightening back up and pushing some hair off his forehead in one smooth motion. “Gotta fatten her up somehow.”

“I fed her an hour ago.” Jaguar grumbled, and turned her head away with a huff as Kaz tried to kiss her, grinning a little.

“C’mon.” He teased, ducking his head to catch her eye as she turned away from him. Hua Bao shifted on her lap, claws caught in her jumper now. “C’mon, parents can’t fight in front of their kids.”

“Jesus.” Jaguar muttered, but kissed Kaz anyway. “Never use that combination of words in reference to us ever again.” Kaz just snorted, rubbed his bristly chin against her face as he kissed her again. “Okay, okay,” She muttered, shoving him away with a palm on his chest. “Don’t get fresh with me in front of the cat.”

Kaz kissed her once more before retreating, holding up his hands in defeat when Jaguar frowned at him. Hua Bao had gotten her claws caught in the heavy knit of Jaguar’s jumper, and she freed her gently before lifting the cat up to deposit her on Kaz’s lap. 

“I’m gonna go walk the dogs, make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble.”

“Yes, boss.” Kaz said with a sardonic grin as he scratched Hua Bao between the ears, his smile relaxing to something fonder as the cat purred and pressed her face into his palm.

Jaguar pushed her hand through his hair with a snort as he leaned into the touch just like the cat, before leaving the kitchen to find the dogs, leaving Kaz and Hua Bao at the table.

It was surpising how fast Hua Bao had become a fixture in their house, just as much as the three big dogs, or the leaky bathtub upstairs, the sticky lock on the front door. Jaguar hadn’t been convinced, she mused, but the way Hua Bao followed her around or curled up in her lap was oddly comforting. Or maybe she just liked having something dependent on her for once. Or maybe she just didn’t like the idea of the tiny little thing wandering around in the cold by herself. Either way, she wasn’t going to give Kaz a hard time for bringing Hua Bao home any more. Or at least, not any more than she already did.

With one last glance through to the kitchen (Hua Bao was batting at the ends of Kaz’s dorky scarf), she attached the leashes so the dogs and let them drag her out into the snow, eager for a walk. 

Another plus side to a cat, she thought as the cold wind hit her, they didn’t need two walks a day.

**Author's Note:**

> commission for rho eefusi! thank u rho for answering my 1000 questions re: the ridiculousness that is metal gear


End file.
